GeekNights Tuesdays: Gaming

Tonight on GeekNights, we review WarioWare: Get It Together! on the Nintendo Switch. The last time we talked about a WarioWare on GeekNights was back in 2007 when we reviewed the awful WarioWare Smooth Moves on the Wii. In the news, Konami lost the rights to some archival video they licensed, forcing them to take a number of Metal Gear Solid games down (contributing to the hellscape that is the in...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review the portal-inspired multiplayer FPS Splitgate . It's free to play, not pay to win, and if you ignore the non-game-affecting skinz and lootz it's definitely worth trying . In the news, the Advance Wars remaster is delayed , BlizzCon is canceled to be re-imagined , and you don't need a rumble pack for your N64 Controller . Also, the OLED Switch doesn't appear to be s...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider a game design topic in the number of players a game supports. For this exercise, we only consider orthogames . We've talked about two player games before. The reality is that one player, two player, and three+ player games are fundamentally and formally distinct. A game that supports more than one of these groups is actually multiple different games for all pract...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider gaming magazines. Notable mentions include Electronic Games , Nintendo Power , Dragon Magazine , Dungeon Magazine , Scrye (for those MTG prices), InQuest , GamePro , Game Informer , PC Gamer , Games Magazine , and more. In the news, Asmodee is for sale for €2 BB , SEGA Genesis games are coming to the Switch (but you won't get the good controller in the US ), Acti...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile . It's a solid legacy game that's worth taking a look at. In the news, Rym finally played West of Loathing and is sorting out if we'll play Aliens: Fireteam Elite , The CEO of Broken Token steps down (but still owns the company...) after abuse and harassment allegations, the CEO of Tripwire steps down due to his abhorrent statem...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider Deathmatch games , particularly FPS deathmatches. Ostensibly beginning with Doom and Quake, the "genre" began already extremely refined, and frankly Quake 1 Deathmatch is literally worth playing today. In the news, Rym biked to Poughkeepsie again , Quake 1 got an update that makes multiplayer "just work" on modern PCs, China effectively bans minors playing online...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review Pokémon UNITE: the Pokémon MOBA. It's actually pretty fun, and it's a shame that it's microtransactional pay-to-win garbage . Only play it if you can play with friends who agree to never spend money, never grind, and never use any items. In the news, the NHL Expansion Draft has released the Kraken, Activision Blizzard is rightly sued by the state of California for...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider collecting in games. Specifically, we consider "new in box" cartridges and people who like to tell you how many board games they own. In the news, Advance Wars 1 and 2 are coming to the Nintendo Switch , the Nintendo Switch Pro is exactly what we expected rather than what people seemed to imagine , someone buys a new-in-box copy of Super Mario 64 for way too much...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the New Pokemon Snap. It's Pokemon Snap. It's exactly what it looks like. And it's probably worth playing. In the news, 1846 gets an update , An Airport for Aliens Currently Run By Dogs is out, the 3080 Ti is coming , Nintendo took down a rom site (but the buried lede is that the proprietor went pro se in court), and while Moon Hunters was a delightful game this...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES. It is hard to express how revolutionary this games was in 1988-1991 (depending on where you lived), and it holds up pretty well today. (Rym just beat it on a lark last week). In the news, Tom Wilson should be expelled from the NHL , Ravenloft gets a much better look , Twitch took action against 7.5MM fake accounts , the Epic Games st...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review PAC-MAN 99 on the Nintendo Switch. In the news, Derek Chauvin is (rightly) convicted on all three counts for the murder George Floyd, the European Super League collapses faster than anyone thought possible, Jeff Kaplan leaves Overwatch and Blizzard , Scrabble (rightly) bans racial slurs from the game , Sony backs off on shutting down the PS3 and Vita services , Nin...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider JRPGs . The "genre" is broad, and many people ignore a number of Japanese Role Playing Games that they wouldn't necessarily consider a "JRPG." In the news, PAX East 2021 is (rightly) canceled due to COVID (though there will be another PAX Online), E3 (rightly) moves online due to COVID , PS Vita games are disappearing forever , and Magnus Carlsen uses the "bongcl...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review Golf . This includes mini golf. In the news, Microsoft is likely buying Discord , Xbox Live is dead , Emily is Away 3 brings us to the Facebook era, Shredder's Revenge brings us a solid-looking TMNT game, and Magic: Legends is now in open beta . Related Links Forum Thread GeekNights Tuesday - Golf Things of the Day Rym -  How color correction in movies re...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review the surprising and unique Moon Hunters , from Kitfox Games. It's on sale on steam right now for $2.24! In the news, Luke Crane made a bad situation worse that has shaken the tabletop rpg world, 3 million new users joined Roll20 during the pandemic, and you should check out these five great tabletop rpg kickstarters that weren't canceled by their creators: Our Trave...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review Inkle's 2019 game Heaven's Vault for Steam, Playstation, and Switch. It's unique, in a good way. In the news, Daft Punk ends , the Root Marauder Expansion is on Kickstarter , The Legend of Zelda is 35 years old , you've probably never actually heard the original Legend of Zelda theme , Civilization VI's barbarians just got a lot more interesting, and Zinequest is l...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider asynchronous play in games. It's an underserved niche in games that is especially relevant during the quarantine times. In the news, Counter-Strike is over 20 years old , hackers attacked CD Projekt Red (but at least they had backups ), Battleborn is dead and gone , and Gearbox was purchased in the ever-increasing consolidation of the games industry. Related Link...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review Hades . It's great, and exhibits a level of polish that is honestly rare. In the news, reddit nerds are gaming GameStop stock leading to interesting consequences , Microsoft continues to struggle with Xbox Gold vs Xbox Live , and the Internet sort of went down for a bit earlier today. Related Links Forum Thread GeekNights Tuesday - Hades Things of the Day Rym ...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review the latest (free-to-play) from Zachtronics with NERTS! Online . It's a live online implementation of the classic card game Nerts , and is worth your while. In the news, a Republican mob led by disgraced president Donald Trump stormed the capitol in an ongoing coup attempt. Twitch rightly removes the PogChamp emote after the person it's based on supported this coup....

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the decade to date in games and gaming. Tabletop games, role playing games, video games, console games, PC games: we are living in an explosive and amazing era of gaming. In the news, the Star Wars Squadrons patch made the game significantly more fun, Graveyard Keeper is all right, and the Overwatch winter brawls are particularly good. Check out freeze tag with a...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review the delightful Hypnospace Outlaw (2019) . It's a true sendup to the early Internet, and is definitely worth playing. In the news, Cyberpunk 2077 had a rocky launch with, among other problems, egregious safety issues , worker exploitation , abysmal performance on previous-generation consoles , and more. A bunch of indie titles are coming to the Nintendo Switch , inc...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider what is likely now our favorite 18xx train game : 1817 . If you have never played one of these before, you may want to check out our reviews of 1846: The Race for the Midwest or 1889: History of Shikoku Railways first. 1817 has short selling, acquisitions & mergers, and loans (with interest) that together serve to provide more player agency than other 18xx games...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review the Ricochet Half-Life mod from twenty years ago. It's still playable! And we're playing it semi-regularly again. We talked about it briefly as part of an ensemble show about Tron games back in 2009. In the news, thank you all for helping raise $4,006 for the Democrats in the Senate Runoff in Georgia, Hearthstone players are mad , Twitch streamers are mad , the Asm...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review Among Us . It's a social deduction game , but with intrinsic mechanics and surprising depth. In the news, there are unconfirmed reports (now officially debunked ) that PAX South has delayed to February 19-21 (which would still be too early to safely attend any convention), and Twitch is trying to milk more money from advertising . Also, we have some early thoughts...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review Star Wars: Squadrons . It's great. It lacks some polish, but the gameplay is sound, the game is solid, and it's almost definitely worth your while. In the news, online chess has a cheating problem , Golden Axed was the product of unethical crunch, and some people are having problems using their Quest 2 due to Facebook. Related Links Forum Thread GeekNights Tuesday...

Tonight on GeekNights, we are joined by Epidiah Ravachol to talk about his fantastic Wolfspell . The tabletop roleplaying game of adventurers who turn to wolf flesh to fulfill a knotted quest. First appearing in issue two of Worlds Without Master, Wolfspell has been reborn now in print as the liner notes of a trifold album cover and illustrated in glorious proggy/metal fashion by Shel Kahn! We als...